Thursday 14 April 2016

'Words, Words, Words' - A play exploring grief, by Lowri Amies

Today's blog is from Lowri Amies on bereavement, the theatre and her upcoming play "WORDS, WORDS, WORDS" which is on at London's King’s Head Theatre on the 17th & 18th April and Leicester Square Theatre from the 16th-21st May.

When my mum passed away, I was performing my first ever solo show, ‘Those who can’t…LEARN’ at the Miller Pub. It was the most bizarre experience to stand on the stage the day after and try to be funny. I had no idea how ill she was, which was stupid really because she had been diagnosed with terminal Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP) four years previously and given only months to live. However, she had fought the disease with such strength and determination that I thought nothing could stop her. Until it did.

She had helped me work on the show while she sat in bed recovering from her latest bout of chemo, worked on draft after draft with me and supplied jokes. Although she never got to see the finished product, she was a huge part of it. She was also a huge part of me and, after she died, I had no idea who I was or how to exist in a world where she didn't. I partly believed so vehemently that she would eventually beat the cancer because I didn't know how I would survive if she left me.